Updated flu shots are available in pharmacies in Arizona and across the United States, and medical experts recommend getting one by the end of October to help protect oneself and others from the seasonal respiratory virus.
With mixed messaging about vaccination coming from the federal government and misinformation about vaccines circulating on social media, it may be confusing for the public to know what to do about getting themselves and family members immunized against influenza this season.
Seasonal influenza, or the flu, is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. While most people recover without treatment, it can cause severe illness and death, particularly in vulnerable populations. One hundred and ninety-one U.S. children died of flu-related illness in the 2025-26 flu season, according to preliminary numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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"There's so much available information, yet so much bad information," said Dr. Michael Dunn, a primary care physician who sits on the Arizona Medical Association’s Board of Directors. "The fewer people who get the (flu) shot, the easier it can spread through the community. It's like a firewall: the more people who get it, the less chance it has of spreading."
The flu shot is optional for the general public, including schoolchildren, so individuals and families must weigh available evidence and recommendations.
Here are nine things to know about the 2026-27 flu vaccine.
Who should get flu shot
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend everyone who is older than six months of age in the U.S. get an annual flu shot unless they have a medical reason not to get one.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends flu vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women to protect the mother and baby from illness, which aligns with what the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises for pregnant women in its immunization schedule, the Vaccine Integrity Project, which is part of the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy Research and Innovation Office at the University of Minnesota, reported Aug. 10.
Additional recommendations from medical groups are expected Sept. 2 when the Vaccine Integrity Project and the American Medical Association, along with other organizations, are set to release new data and evidence-based immunization recommendations for the 2026-27 fall and winter respiratory season.
A flu shot
CDC silent this flu season
The CDC has historically recommended flu shots for everyone over the age of six months unless there's a medical reason preventing it. As of Aug. 31, the agency had not provided recommendations on flu shots for the 2026-27 flu season.
In a Sept. 1 email to The Arizona Republic, CDC spokesperson Jason Lefevre wrote that "clinical considerations for 2026-2027 season are being finalized and will be posted online once complete."
An Aug. 10 executive order from President Donald Trump recommends "shared decision making" when it comes to giving kids the flu vaccine. The executive order, "Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans", was denounced by major medical organizations for making changes without any scientific evidence to support them.
Ideal months to get a flu shot
The best time to get the flu shot is in September or October, ideally by the end of October, said Dunn, the East Valley physician.
It takes approximately two weeks for the vaccine to become effective after getting the shot, said Dunn, CEO of Gateway Urgent Care, which has five urgent care clinics in the East Valley. In other words, if you are traveling or having a large gathering, getting the shot two weeks beforehand will ensure optimal protection.
Major pharmacies administering flu shots
Walgreens and CVS locations in Arizona and across the country are scheduling appointments for flu shots for the 2026-27 season, and have the flu shot in stock.
Dunn said Aug. 28 that the independent urgent care chain he oversees has the flu vaccines on order and was expecting a supply soon.
A new mRNA flu shot difficult to find
U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 5 approved Moderna's mFlusiva flu vaccine for people 50 and older on the condition that it will run additional studies on its effectiveness in adults over 65. It is the first non-COVID-related mRNA vaccine in the United States. Trials involving more than 40,000 adults aged 50 and older found that mFlusiva was 26.6% more effective than the traditional flu shot.
mFlusiva is not available at CVS pharmacies in the United States, but CVS is evaluating it "to ensure we meet the needs of the communities we serve," CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault wrote in an email. Officials with Walgreens did not respond to The Arizona Republic's query about mFlusiva.
While the technology behind mRNA vaccines has been in development for decades, it came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic, when drug companies Pfizer and Moderna rolled out the first shots to fight the respiratory virus.
Though mRNA science has shown promise in treating or preventing disease beyond COVID, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, has rallied against its development, canceling roughly $500 million in related projects in 2025.
Earlier this year, the FDA, which operates under HHS, declined to review the mRNA flu shot before changing course about two weeks later.
Helps protect babies too young to be vaccinated
Babies younger than six months of age are among the most vulnerable to developing complications from the flu, up to and including death, because they are too young to get a flu shot. To create a protective cocoon of immunity around unvaccinated infants, parents should make sure that everyone who comes in close contact with the baby is vaccinated against flu, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases says.
Faced with Trump's executive order softening the flu vaccination recommendations for kids to "shared decision making," the national nonprofit organization Families Fighting Flu criticized the move as harmful to children.
"As we are on the cusp of another respiratory season, Families Fighting Flu will continue to affirm that everyone 6 months and older gets their annual flu vaccine,” the group's executive director Michele Slafkosky said in a written statement.
“In just the last few years, records have been broken with hundreds of children each year dying from the flu. Most of these children were reported as unvaccinated. Taking away the flu vaccine recommendation for children will mean that more children will fall ill, be hospitalized, and live with lifelong medical consequences such as lung disease and amputation. And most critically, more will die unnecessarily.”
Updated COVID-19 vaccines aren't here yet
Both Walgreens and CVS pharmacies are expecting to receive supplies of the updated COVID-19 vaccine within the next few days. Not everyone needs to get an updated COVID-19 shot, many medical experts say.
"The people who really need the COVID vaccine are older adults, high-risk individuals, anybody who has chronic underlying health conditions, diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, compromised immune systems, pregnancy," said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, executive director of the Infectious Diseases Society of America during an Aug. 21 virtual briefing with reporters.
"Pregnancy is a really vulnerable time, as we all know, for infectious disease."
Health insurers expected to cover shots
The National Association of Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, said in fall 2025 that major insurers would continue covering federally recommended immunizations, which include flu and COVID-19 shots, with no cost-sharing through the end of 2027. AHIP is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry.
The Arizona Partnership for Immunization, or TAPI, has resources for Arizonans looking for low- and no-cost places to get immunized: https://whyimmunize.org/get-info/family-and-community/where-to-go-for-your-vaccines/
In fall 2025, a change in federal recommendations about who should get the COVID-19 shot resulted in a nationwide mess where thousands of people needing and wanting the vaccine were initially unable to get it without a prescription. In Arizona, as in some other states, access to the vaccine was restored with intervention by the governor's office in the form of a standing prescription order. As of Aug. 31, it was unclear whether that standing order for Arizonans would continue into the upcoming flu season.
Updated vaccines target new strains
The updated seasonal influenza vaccines are trivalent, meaning they target three strains of the flu. For the 2026-27 vaccines, the target is two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus. The effectiveness of the updated shots is not known.
Dunn, the East Valley physician, said that even when the flu shot is not a good match for the strains in circulation, it has still shown to provide "some response" in preventing severe illness and death.
The updated COVID-19 vaccines, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aug. 27, target the XFG variant of the JN.1 lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19.
